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#CatalanGP: Fantastic sixth wrap up strong weekend

Jonas Folger was more happy about the progress has made during the last days than about his strong and faultless ride in scorching Barcelona.

During the series’ round seven this weekend in the northern part of Spain, ground temperatures reached top values with 54 degrees on Sunday afternoon which was an additional obstacle as the track’s conditions are getting more worse year by year. Therefore, the right tyre choice was crucial for the outcome of the race as well as saving reserves and energy for the final stages.

Prior to the race, however, Jonas Folger and his technicians has made a lot of thoughts to eliminate the problems during the opening stages of a race. In this regard, important progress has been made during practice sessions on the previous days. As the lights went out for the Gran Premi de Catalunya, the 23-year-old left the line well and it took just a couple of laps to made connection with the leading group which he was following for most of the distance. In lap three, however, Folger set a new circuit lap record at the 4.6 kilometres long Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

After the back-to-back classic races in Mugello and Barcelona, the World Championship heads into a short break now until the next race in the Netherlands with its traditional date at the last weekend in June. But before, Folger and his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team remain for a one-day testing on Monday in Catalunya.

“Overall, I cannot complain, even if I’m not completely satisfied. It was a strong race, to round up one of our best weekends this year so far. But most of all I’m happy that I succeeded during the first laps. The base for our strong start into the race was created with two enormously important steps forward. First, with the early decision in which way we wanted to work, this we made already on Friday morning, and then a further small but obviously effective change to my seating position on the bike.”

“I didn’t feel 100 percent comfortable so far after there was too much weight on the front. So, we moved my body position a bit backwards. In addition, we have place the handlebars more closely as well as we placed a spacer on the fuel tank. That’s why I’m able to find more space and comfortable behind the fairing now. I feel more relaxed riding the bike now. I think, this helps a lot for riding more aggressive during the early stages with a full tank. As a result of these measures, we achieved this strong outcome ultimately. So, the race went very enjoyable for me, except for the fact that I got passed by my teammate during the final lap.”

“Actually, I thought that I’ll finish ahead of him today. As my crew showed his gap by something more than two seconds with just a couple of laps to go, I thought this should be enough. Nevertheless, I pushed till the end and in doing so I completely destroyed my tyre on the right side. Johann, on the other hand, knew how to deal with his tyres. I couldn’t do nothing else than to brake later than him but in acceleration he had a clear advantage. Having overtaken me in first sector of the final lap, my plan was to re-pass him in the last chicane but this attack could have a very embarrassingly outcome so I decided to bring home this sixth place.”

“Today’s race was also the most demanding this season so far. It was not just physically wise but also mentally because the track’s conditions have changed with every five laps, it got worse and worse in terms of grip level. So, it was very difficult for me to understand which mapping is the right one for the respective point of time. As I lost the connection to the leading group for the first time, at this time I used the mapping with a more smooth level. This should help to safe the tyres. But as soon I realized that I wasn’t able to stay with them, I activated the more aggressive level with more engine power. This was the only mistake today. But apart from this, we are very relieved about the progress made this weekend as well as we lost just 13 seconds to the race winner’s time. So, a big thanks to the entire team and I already look forward to the next race.”